For those of you busy making bowls for this year's event; a few
reminders:
Food safe is the key thing for bowls for this or any
other Empty Bowls event.
Food safe means the following:
1. Glazes must not contain lead, or any other toxic substance that can
leach into food.
2. Vessels must be fired to maturity. This ensures that no porosity
remains in the clay body, and helps make sure the vessel can tolerate
subsequent heating and cooling (freezer/fridge to microwave to
dishwasher) without suffering thermal shock. Here's a quick test to
determine if you've reached "maturity": The bowl with water; if no water
leaks within 24 hours, it's safe.
3. If you're using glaze, no crazing, pitting, shivering or other
effects that can leave crevasses or cracks. Tiny cracks or gaps in the
glaze or clay body surface can trap food particles, which can then grow
bacteria, and cause food poisoning later on.
4. No sharp protrusions that could chip if knocked with a spoon or fork.
Imagine how unpleasant it would be to bite down on a sharp, hard piece
of ceramic material that had accidentally broken off a lovely decoration
at the bottom of the bowl! Not fun!
Even while observing the food safety criteria, there are still hundreds
of ways to make and decorate bowls. For this potter, making bowls for
this event is always an opportunity to practice skills, experiment with
new decorating styles, try new glaze combinations, and otherwise have a
good time. Bowls can be handmade, or wheel thrown. There is no official
size or style requirement, but larger bowls (to hold ice cream, soup,
cereal, etc) seem to be especially popular. Also, many customers like to
find bowls with the name and year of the event (EB 2008 or Empty Bowls
2008), to add to their growing collections.
Contact Arizona Clay if you have more questions!
